Sleep in Heavenly Peace

With the curtailment in use of estrogen to treat
menopausal symptoms, including night sweats, symptoms of insomnia increase. While not always
associated by patients, complaints of lack of energy, difficulty concentrating
and problem solving, or even mood changes such as irritability, and depression
may be consequences of poor sleep quality. If restless sleep or these
symptoms persist beyond a month, then you should schedule an appointment
with your doctor to evaluate the cause of your insomnia.

Sometimes serious underlying ailments exist, but the majority of the time
anxiety or other issues are responsible. Prescription sleep aids, used
on a short term basis of less than a month, or episodically can be quite
helpful according to sleep specialists. Likewise low dose estrogen works
wonders especially for menopausal night sweats and hot flushes, removing
the inciting event to sleep disturbances and hence their consequences.
Women often return commenting, “I feel like myself again.” We initiate hormone treatment at the lowest effective dose, and
if using pills take them at bedtime to take advantage of peak blood levels.

Nevertheless, many menopausal women desire to manage insomnia “naturally.”
Here’s a list of suggestions to help you:

Put your worries away at bedtime (acknowledging that you’ll deal
with them the next morning)

If you can’t sleep within 20 minutes, get up and go to another room;
return when drowsy

Avoid naps. If you must nap, limit it to less than 30 minutes, and complete
it by early afternoon

Commonly doctors often focus their efforts on life-threatening conditions
or ones they know are straight forward to treat. Nevertheless, if these
insomnia interventions do not help you awake feeling rested, then you
should see your primary care physician. Sleep quality impacts quality
of life. They can help you get consistent, quality sleep so you can awake
to meaningful days.